Time Stands Still

Chapter 21

 Despite Ryder's reassurances that they would catch him, I felt like it wouldn't happen. The universe probably didn't want me to come home and be Audrey Massey again. It just wanted me to continue my life like Mallory Bray and this constant numbness that surrounded me. I should really get used to that feeling.

I didn't want to get used that feeling though. That feeling had been with me for the last 1445 days. I couldn't hold out much longer. I really couldn't. But it seemed like I had to.

Ryder told me that it would probably be the best for me to go home. A police officer would escort me home and make sure that everything was alright. He would stay at the outside of my apartment building, however he would be discreet about being there. Ryder was convinced that Boris Flores wouldn't connect Mallory Bray to Audrey Massey.

He was probably right. Looking at all the evidence he had on me, he assumed that I was located somewhere in Arizona. Why he thought that I was Arizona, was a question that I could honestly not answer. I had no connections to Arizona.

The only thing, that worried me, was the fact that he knew that a police report had been made. After all, he had managed to flee and take most of his important documents with him. So he would have had to known that the police was on to him.

Aria would drop off Simona before returning home herself. A police officer would stop by to inspect their homes, but they weren't the ones in real danger of him. Unfortunately, I was his favorite target.

My apartment was cleared and the police officer promised me that he would keep me safe. At this point, I could really care less about being kept safe.

I quickly changed into my pajamas and decided to try and get some sleep. I didn't need to try very hard, because I was asleep in a couple of seconds. My night had been long and tiring. My body and my mind were craving sleep despite the anxieties that were wracking my body.

I woke up three hours later due to my rumbling stomach. I didn't feel really hungry, but my stomach begged to differ. So I pleased it with some crackers. Afterwards I tried to get some more sleep, but unfortunately it wasn't possible.

My anxieties now overruled my need for sleep and thoughts started to spin out of control. Every worst possible scenario seemed to cross my mind. In the end, I literally thought that the whole world was ending.

However one thought really started to raise my anxieties. Simona said that his card was connected to things. What if it was connected to his computer and he knew that somebody had seen the files who obviously wasn't him, because he wasn't there to open them.

And what if he could see that Aria was in the building because of her card. Aria could potentially be in danger.

The crackers suddenly threatened to come up as my hands fumbled for the phone before shakingly dialing her number. The phone rang multiple times while I was desperately swallowing to keep my crackers inside. She didn't pick up. Instead a generic voicemail voice answered the phone.

This time, my hands dialed Ryder's phone number. Luckily he picked up in just two rings. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Can you check Aria please?" I asked him.

"Why?" He asked.

I nearly wanted to pull my hair out in frustration. I did not have time for this. "I think that she might be in danger. I mean she isn't picking up. What if he killed her?! After all she entered the building with her card and maybe he knows what...," my desperate rambling was cut off.

"Ho, ho, ho," Ryder said through the phone. "Don't worry okay. A police officer is circling her neighborhood every half hour and I just talked to her fifty minutes ago. She was going to sleep, so that's why she isn't picking up."